One-fourth of SD employment tied to federal government

AtlanticCities.com has a new article shedding more light on how much the San Diego economy depends on the federal government: 10 percent of jobs are directly tied to the federal government, according to calculations by Economic Modeling Specialists International (EMSI). Colorado Springs is first at 16.4 percent and Washington D.C. is fourth at 14.1% percent

San Diego is one of the highest in jobs that are directly or indirectly tied to the federal government — 25 percent; Honolulu is tops at 43 percent, Virginia Beach second at 42 percent, Washington D.C. third at 36 percent and Colorado Springs and El Paso just ahead of San Diego at 32 percent.

Comments

One fourth? That's all? I would have imagined it would be higher than that. And only ten percent are direct federal jobs? Again, I'd have thought it was higher than that. What I don't grasp is how Colorado Springs and El Paso can be higher than San Diego. Both have military presence (Colo Springs has the Air Force Academy and maybe an air force base, El Paso has Fort Bliss) but would those account for the high level?

It might be helpful to have the employment numbers. Percentages can be misleading when comparing small markets like Co. Springs with a much larger employment base such as SD has. I would venture to say that government employment , federal, state, local,irect and indirect, is probably close to 50% of all jobs in SD. The County employs over 16 K, the City about 10K then add in all the military Border Patrol and the contractors employed by the government. When people say they want to cut government jobs I don't think they realize what an impact that would have on the local economy.

Dennis: If you are talking direct and indirect, and all levels of government (federal, state, local) you might be able to argue that total San Diego County employment comes close to 50% government-related. However, 50% sounds high to me. Offhand, I would say 35%. Best, Don Bauder